


of what secret lights are we made?

by ariya167



Category: The Diabolic Series - S. J. Kinkaid
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-20 16:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16559075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariya167/pseuds/ariya167
Summary: Not for the first time, Elantra is struck by how beautiful Credenza is, the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen by any measure.





	of what secret lights are we made?

They’ve discussed this before, late at night, during that magical time when nothing truly seems real and any grand ideas sound plausible. It’d be a strategic match, Elantra knows. The Pasuses and the Fordyces have been allies for decades, and Credenza’s family has recently been elevated in status by Salivar’s marriage to Devineé, even if he’s now a slobbering fool. If not for the fact that Elantra is her father’s only heir, and is expected to make heirs of her own, she might have already been engaged to Credenza. 

Elantra sighs, fingers slowing where they have been carefully braiding Credenza’s hair. It’s a somewhat pointless activity, when the stilts woven into Credenza’s hair can do the job much quicker and more efficiently than she can, but Elantra has to agree that it’s soothing. Not that she’s being soothed much right now. 

As if she’s sensing Elantra’s thoughts, Credenza turns to look at her, concern writ large on her face. 

“What’s wrong, Elantra?” she asks, and Elantra sighs again. 

“It’s just . . . my father thinks that right now, a marriage would be beneficial. And it would, but he wants me to marry someone like Gladdic or Aulus.” 

“You don’t have to listen to him, you know,” Credenza says, but Elantra rolls her eyes.

“You know perfectly well what would happen in that case, Denza,” she says, slipping back into the old nickname she used when they were kids. 

Credenza purses her lips, and raises an eyebrow in that artful way she’s mastered. She’s truly beautiful, and not just in the way that speaks of good beauty bots. There’s an indescribable quality about her-something that reminds Elantra of tempered steel cloaked in silk. 

Elantra muses on this for a few moments, then realizes Credenza is speaking again.

“Have you considered simply telling Senator von Pasus about us? We’d make a good pair, after all. And we wouldn’t even need a man to create children.”

Credenza is one of the few people in the galaxy that Elantra doesn’t want to argue with, but that doesn’t mean she won’t. 

“My father is too ardently Helionic to allow that,” she says bitterly. Elantra wouldn’t call herself devout by any means, but she’s no heretic either, and recently she’s come to realize just how much of a weapon religion is for people like Senator von Pasus. 

“Elantra, sometimes I think the reason you’ve never defied your father,” Credenza says, some cruel, angry thing twisting her voice. “Is because you’ve never truly cared enough about someone to try.” 

She rises in one graceful movement, leaving the room without another word or backward glance. Elantra sits there, utterly stunned. She’s always prided herself on her ability to predict what people are going to do, but she never expected this, and now it feels like there is a fissure between them that might be unfixable. 

And the more she considers it, the more she thinks Credenza might be right. For as long as Elantra can remember, she went along with whatever her father wanted of her. She rarely disagreed with him, and it was just simply easier. But is her father’s approval worth losing Credenza forever?

 

Elantra seeks her out the next morning, travelling down the Minerva Stretch where Credenza’s villa is located. She waits outside to be admitted, nerves afire with the fear that Credenza will not allow her in, will simply direct a Servitor to send her away. But it’s only a few moments before the door slides open and she steps inside, breathing slowly to calm her racing heart. 

Credenza is waiting for her in the parlour, sprawled across a settee. She’s wearing a simple white dress, though it is embroidered exquisitely in the solar eclipse sigil of her family, and golden brown curls cascade across her bare shoulders. Her signature features are her nose and her cheekbones and she’s chosen them well. Not for the first time, Elantra is struck by how beautiful Credenza is, the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen by any measure. 

Internally, she snaps at herself to stop acting like a fool and bring her attention back to the matter at hand. Credenza still has not uttered a word since Elantra entered, so she decides to make the first move. 

Elantra sinks to her knees, drawing her hands first to her heart and then to the soft skin of Credenza’s cheeks. It is a perfect Grandiloquy greeting, demonstrating with a gesture the respect she is according Credenza. 

She waits longer than is usual to rise to her feet, and only then does she start to speak. “Credenza,” Elantra says, but hesitates. How best to say this? She takes a deep breath, and pushes on. “Credenza, I’m sorry. I have not treated you the way I should have, simply because I was too afraid to do so. I love you, Credenza, truly. And if you would have me, I will marry you, my father and the court and the Helionics be damned.”

Credenza stares at her for a moment, and Elantra begins to fear that she’s said the wrong thing yet again, until she breaks until a brilliant smile, taking Elantra’s hands in hers and twirling throughout the room.

“Oh, Elantra!” she says, practically glowing as she smiles. “I was so worried.” Her faces falls, and she slows her movement, biting her lower lip. “I’m ashamed of what I said. I thought you might never come.”  


“Don’t be ashamed, Credenza,” Elantra says, staring her in the eyes. “You had every right to be mad at me.”

Denza smiles gently, reaching out with one hand to cradle Elantra’s cheek. “Thank you, truly.”

Elantra smiles back, and leans forward to kiss her. Their fingers lace together and Elantra leans into Credenza’s gentle touch, savouring the taste of her lips. For the first time since she can remember, thinking about her future with Credenza, she feels truly happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on [tumblr!](nemedonia.tumblr.com)


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